We always heard that there are only two types of love:
Intimate love and platonic love.
But people like Yu Kim believed there is a third type of love:
The one-sided love.
And it's the most beautiful one.
You feel the moments alone.
You feel the happiness alone.
You feel the pain alone.
And...
You love all alone...
Li Qiao was not planning on listening to Yu Kim. He took yet another step away from her. Yu Kim narrowed her eyes at him. "Li Qiao, get your damn a** right here before I drag you myself."
Li Qiao's eyes widened at her loud voice. But the words were not shocking at all. They were more amusing. But the surprising fact was; It had been years, she stopped calling him Li Qiao. She always stuck with Sir or Mr. Li. Too formal. As if creating a barrier of ranks between them.
But the amusement in Li Qiao's eyes was swapped with plaintive glint as she held his wrist and dragged him to the sofa and almost pushed him from his broad shoulders to take a seat.
"Give me your hand." Her voice held authority making Li Qiao extend his hand obediently.
As she dabbled the disinfectant on his cut, he winced in pain. He had to bit down hard on his tongue to stop that damn scream from escaping. If every person is strong in their own way, every person is weak in their own way as well. Strength and Weakness are not that different.
Some people are just too good at hiding their weaknesses and some are good at hiding their strength.
Yu Kim had glistening tears in her eyes threatening to fall any minute and to hide them from Li Qiao, she kept her head stooped low. She was in as much pain as he was just by seeing him hurt. Or maybe her pain was worse. Because it was her heart that was bleeding while his was only a hand.
Keeping her head down had an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage was that she didn't notice the way Li Qiao's gaze held accusation for her in them. He was looking at her as a sacrificial lamb looks at the butcher.
But the disadvantage was that she also missed how the feeling in his gaze shifted as he saw her trying to blow a loose strand of hair away from her eyes. With his other hand, Li Qiao picked that strand and languidly tucked it behind her ear. Her body stiffened at the sudden contact of his callous thumb with her earlobe. She was surprised but Li Qiao took it as her disapproval.
"Sorry." He mumbled under his breath keeping his distance. She didn't see the hurt in his eyes while she used the gauze to wrap his wound.
A worker from the cleaning department came during this period and started cleaning up the place without making any noise.
After a long while, his voice punctured the silence. "Mey was at the hospital."
That got a reaction out of her. She looked up at his handsome face. "Why? What's wrong with her? Is she okay? Should we visit her?" In a single breath, she shot all the questions while fidgeting impatiently.
Her anticipating eyes were stuck on his face not even blinking. 'I was hurt and you kept your face down. My Mey's name came and you have the audacity to even stare at me like this. What a masterpiece you're.'
Getting tired of his silence, she held his arm and shook it to break his daze. "Sir? Tell me something."
That 'Sir' ticked him off once again. "Stop calling me Sir from now on and I'll tell you."
Yu Kim let go of his arm. "Are you negotiating with me? And that too at a time like this?"
"You call my friends by their name. What's so odd about me?"
"You're my boss now. That's the odd part."
"I'm your boss... Right... I am..." His voice was so low that Yu Kim couldn't catch a word of it. He looked at her. "Don't worry. Mey is fine. She's in denial. That's all."
"Denial?"
"She doesn't want to believe in her heart's signals."
"Is she falling in love?" Yu Kim was quite happy thinking about it.
Li Qiao saw the radiant smile on her face and an odd bitterness spread in his heart. "Close... She's in that anticipation phase. Where every simple word or action brings a storm of butterflies." His expression was distant but pleased.
"Like you felt around Song Yuling back then?" Why these words came out of her mouth was out of her own mind. She didn't even realize it but the impact of these words was huge.
Li Qiao gritted his teeth as a searing fire rose in his eyes. He closed his eyes and dug his nails in his already hurt palm to let the pain overcome his anger and disappointment.
"Yes... Exactly how I used to feel back then." He enunciated each word through gritted teeth putting more force in them than necessary.
Yu Kim's face fell at his words and she left making an excuse of having an important file to process. Li Qiao was left alone in the office with his painful hand and that pierced heart. He couldn't determine which was hurting more; The hand which was cut by a splinter or his heart that was cut by her brutal words.
No matter which one it was, it was painful for him.
He picked up his phone and tapped on it. The lock screen had a group photo of all his friends. Using his fingerprint, he unlocked the phone and the wallpaper on the screen displayed. It was a side profile of a girl standing alone under the starry night. The girl in the photo had short hair falling right on her shoulders.
She was wearing a black crop top matching the darkness of the night and her eyes were exactly like those stars that were brightening up the darkness of the night.
He caressed the screen with his thumb. "At least my Mey is just trying to deny her feelings because she's scared. But you're the most ignorant person, I've ever met in my life... Yu Kim." His voice was soft and low.